Ethel Barrymore

A member of America's multi-generational acting dynasty, Ethel Barrymore established herself as "the first lady of the American stage" prior to following her brothers, Lionel and John, to the land of Hollywood and motion pictures. After paying her dues with smaller roles on the stages of New York and further honing her craft abroad in the U.K., Barrymore became a bona fide Broadway star with her 1901 performance in "Captain Jinx of the Horse Marines." So popular was she during her heyday, that her good-humored admonition to persistent theater audiences wanting another curtain call - "That's all there is, there isn't any more," became an oft-quoted catchphrase throughout the 1920s and '30s. Barrymore's five-year dalliance with silent films in the late-teens was pushed aside in favor of theater and family. A chance to work with both Lionel and John lured her back in front of cameras for "Rasputin and the Empress" (1932), although not for long. Her final, permanent return to film came 11 years later, at the behest of Cary Grant, with whom she co-starred in "None But the Lonely Heart" (1944). The role won her an Academy Award and paved the way for more turns, usually as stern but caring maternal figures, in films like "The Spiral Staircase" (1946), "The Paradine Case" (1947) and "Pinky" (1949). Immortalized as the namesake of Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Barrymore's legacy lived on with her memorable film roles and the career of great-niece, Drew Barrymore, who carried on the family tradition.